Historic Laois stone bridge demolition ahead for town's flood defences

The extensive flood defences planned to protect a Laois town, will spell the end of a historic stone bridge on its outskirts.

Mountmellick in Laois is awaiting a major engineering job to protect homes and businesses from a repeat of the disastrous flood that hit in 2017 when multiple rivers around the town burst their banks.

Construction was expected to start next year, but plans had to be revised and enlarged following other flood events.

Laois County Council has confirmed that not only will it be delayed by another two years, but it will necessitate the removal and replacement of a historic bridge, and purchase of 26 acres of lands.

The Owenass Bridge in Derrycloney is a stone arched bridge over the River Owenass, where four roads converge on an all-stop junction.

A busy junction, it is often used by traffic between Portlaoise and Tullamore avoiding the bottleneck of Mountmellick town centre. 

Removing and replacing the bridge is "a likely requirement" the Laois County Council Director of Services for roads told the Leinster Express.

Simon Walton said it must be considered in relation to the benefits to Mountmellick of having strong flood defences.

"We wouldn’t have mentioned the replacement of the bridge unless it was a likely requirement of the final design. The replacement of the bridge needs to be considered against the backdrop of the benefits that accrue to Mountmellick from the introduction of a resilient flood relief scheme," he said.

He said that the designers have taken into consideration the future recommended relief road for Mountmellick.

"The design has regard to the possible future development of an orbital road around Mountmellick," Mr Walton said.

There is as yet no new timescale to deliver the flood relief scheme, as it must be redesigned and enlarged, and land deals will have to be done.

"I have not provided construction timescales, as such timescales are dependent upon planning and land acquisition consents, both of which are outside of our control. Our focus is to get the Scheme designed and informed, to the point where we can lodge an application to An Bord Pleanala," he said.

The first flood defences plan began design stage in 2019, with planning to be sought in February 2021 and construction to start in 2023.  A new plan is not expected to be lodged with An Bord Pleanála until September 2023, a 2.5 year delay. It will go on public display before this summer.

The council has explained why the plan was enlarged to include a replacement bridge.

"In February 2020, Storms Ciara, Jorge and Dennis gave rise to new, extremely significant, information regarding the complex hydraulic relationship and inter-dependence between the Owenass and Pound Rivers and the structures supporting both channels.

"The learnings from Storms Ciara, Jorge and Dennis gave rise to an increase in the area requiring protection, from 4.6 square kilometers (as envisaged in the OPW’s Catchment Flood Risk Assessment and Management Scheme) to 6.1 square kilometres.

"Additionally, a key element of the emerging Scheme is to prevent Owenass floodwaters from entering The Pound. In turn, this will increase floodwaters through the Owenass Bridge and, in all likelihood, a replacement Bridge will be required to ensure the appropriate resilience of the Flood Relief Scheme. This is the main focus for the Design Team at this time," the council has reported.

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The emerging Mountmellick Flood Relief Scheme still will need a protected area in the town of 6.1 square kilometres, including 6km of high earthen embankments, 1km of Flood Walls, 200m localised Road Raising.

The town has not suffered a similarly large flood since 2017, partly due to the council's work to keep rivers and drains clear.

Flood impacted homeowners, many of whom no longer can get house insurance, can still buy barriers at a 50% discount through the council’s Capital Projects Office."